GOV: True Texas Project’s CEO Julie McCarty endorsed former Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas) over Gov. Greg Abbott (R). McCarty, a longtime leader within the Tea Party, has been critical of Abbott’s job performance.
Tweeting a reply to a question from Michael Quinn Sullivan, McCarty indicated she was torn over whether Abbott should call a special session if lawmakers failed to pass all of the Republican Party’s priority bills. Fearing Abbott would use his calling of a special session to demonstrate his leadership on Republican Party priorities, McCarty said, “It’d make many of our arguments against him irrelevant to low-info voters.”
Election Bill: Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) appointed Reps. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), Travis Clardy (R-Nacogdoches), Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth) and Jacey Jetton (R-Richmond) to a conference committee for Senate Bill 7 by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola). Notably, Canales and Collier are the only people of color on the committee, which includes five white Senators appointed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) on Monday. Also notable is the fact that all three Republicans appointed to the conference committee are members of the Elections Committee, but none of that committee’s four Democrats were placed on the conference committee.
San Antonio: Former Mayor Julián Castro endorsed Teri Castillo over Rudy Lopez in a runoff for an open council seat.
January 6 Commission: Two Texas Republicans – U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio) and Van Taylor (R-Plano) – voted for legislation establishing a bipartisan commission to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-President Trump mob on January 6. A total of 35 Republicans voted for the measure. Both Gonzales and Taylor voted to certify Arizona’s election results on that day.
The measure needs 10 Republican Senators and all the Democratic Senators to overcome a Republican filibuster.
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